From all reports the river has been producing a lot of big flathead for those who are prepared to put the time in. There have also been reports of some big trevally being landed on lures and live baits around the motorway bridge area and downstream to Chambers Island. As we move towards the New moon with much bigger tides, the fishing for all species should improve markedly.

The quick burst of rain at the start of the month did flush a few decent whiting down to the lower reaches of the river, however I feel the excitement of catching a few arm slappers may be short lived unless we get more follow up rain. You could tell the whiting caught just after the rain were from upstream because they were very dark in colour compared to those that normally frequent the lower reaches.

The following tale is true and happened not so long ago on the Maroochy River (only the names have been changed to protect the idiots in the story).

Gilligan and the Skipper pulled up on a sandbank to pump some yabbies. The Skipper handed the anchor to Gilligan and instructed him to dig it into the sand to make it secure. After Gilligan secured the anchor they both set about pumping a few yabbies for a session on whiting. After about 20mins or so they had enough bait and the Skipper said, “That’s plenty let’s go fishing.” As the Skipper was looking over Gilligan’s shoulder he said, “Where’s the f++++++! boat”? Gilligan looked around then pointed across the river and said, “Over there!”. The Skipper said, “Well you secured the anchor, you better get swimming.” Gilligan said, “it’s your f++++++! boat, you set the anchor rope, you better get swimming.” And so, the Skipper had a lengthy swim across the river, then spent 10 mins trying to climb into the boat from deep water. Finally, after 30mins or so and a lot of unrepeatable language the Skipper arrived back to pick up Gilligan and the yabbies. The moral of the story is, “always make sure you allow plenty of anchor rope when you go ashore – for any reason.”

Ok – so leading into the New moon this week we should see some good flathead and trevally and I know for sure that a few crab pots placed in the right place will produce some good sand crabs. I for one will be giving the sand whiting a go on soldier crabs and hope that we can get some decent rain to stir things up a bit.

I received an email from one of my readers, Troy, from Brisbane who fished the Maroochy River on the night of the last Full moon. Troy fishes for whiting mostly with worms which he brings up to the Maroochy with him. Troy worked hard on the run-in tide for a nice mixed bag of bream and whiting. I have enclosed a photo he sent of his night’s catch.

If you would like to tell me where the fish are or ask me any questions please feel free to email me on malcolmmckinlay0@gmail.com any time.